Resume objectives for teaching assistants

Writing meaningful objectives for your teaching assistant resume will set you apart from other candidates. (doing my homework image by Renata Osinska from Fotolia.com)

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, teacher assistants held about 1.3 million jobs in 2008, and the profession is expected to grow approximately 10 per cent between 2008 and 2018. Writing powerful, meaningful objectives for your teaching assistant resume will help to set you apart from other qualified candidates. Resume objectives are not career goals. Instead, they should immediately convey to your prospective employer the value you will bring to the position.

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Instructional Support

One of the most important resume objectives as a teaching assistant is to provide instructional support to the teacher. In accordance with Title 1 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, if a school has taken advantage of grants or funding under Title 1, teaching assistants cannot provide instructional support unless they are under the direct supervision of a teacher. However, when the teacher is present you can provide instructional support tasks such as carrying out instructional activities that the teacher has designed in his lesson plan, managing classroom activities such as reading groups or homework assignments and conducting parental involvement activities.

Accommodate Special Needs

As a teaching assistant, one of your primary resume objectives is to accommodate the special needs of children in the class. This may involve translating for those students whose English skills are not sufficient to ensure that they understand the teacher. Accommodating special needs also includes working with children who have a learning disability or who are disadvantaged in some way, to provide one-on-one tutoring when a teacher is not available to work with the child individually.

Classroom Preperation

Another important resume objective is that of classroom preparation. Teachers put in many long hours outside the classroom. They spend time preparing lesson plans, devising strategies to give the best possible quality education, grading papers and buying classroom supplies. As a teaching assistant, you should take on the classroom preparation tasks to free up the teacher to do her job. Preparing the classroom includes such things as arranging desks, posting displays on notice boards, cleaning chalkboards and dry erase boards, straightening reading or textbooks and setting up audiovisual equipment.

Administrative Tasks

Handling administrative tasks is an essential objective for a teaching assistant resume. Similar to the value added in classroom preparation, handling administrative tasks frees up the teacher to concentrate on his most important task of educating children. Administrative tasks include making photocopies, taking attendance, entering data on the computer, scheduling rooms for computer lab exercises or other specialised activities and preparing, distributing and gathering permission slips for field trips or other extra-circular activities.

Supervising Children

Finally, you should include supervising children on your resume as one of your objectives. Teaching assistants are responsible for supervising children outside the classroom, such as in the lunchroom, on the playground, in the hallways or on field trips. Teaching assistants also supervise children when the teacher has stepped away from the classroom. This objective is a valuable one for any teacher, and including it on your resume will highlight your cooperative attitude and will help to distinguish you from other candidates.